Criminalware - The Chicken Thief

There is a category of criminals that finds its way into newspapers even today: the dumb ones. It was during the depression, so hunger probably drove Jake Vohland to steal the chickens. He did not, however, anticipate the ingenuity of the chicken farmers he chose to steal from.

His intended target had already set an alarm to protect their chickens. Using a mouse trap, a bell, and electrical wire, the Stubblefields built a homemade alarm to protect their chickens from being stolen during the night. It worked like a charm. Jake was so flustered at being caught in the act of stealing the chickens that he ran all the way home, forgetting that his car was sitting ready for his getaway. The police used the car sitting outside the Stubblefields farm to track down Jake.

The Hastings Democrat broke the following story on March 26, 1931:

Mouse Trap Alarm Reveals Chicken Thief at Gibbon

An ingenious burglar alarm of a home made variety saved Mr. and Mrs. Dale E. Stubblefield, who live southeast/ of Gibbon, from losing probably all of their chickens Monday night and led to the capture of the suspected thief.

Mr. and Mrs. Stubblefield are extensive chicken raisers and fearing the loss of their fowls by theft they constructed a burglar alarm of their own invention. The alarm consisted of a mouse trap so arranged near the door that the entrance of a thief would ring a bell in both their living room and bedroom. Having electricity on their farm the device was not difficult to construct. It was also their habit to leave their automobile in such a position that if the lights were turned on at night they would flood the chicken house.

Late Monday night the alarm did its duty and Mrs. Stubblefield ran out to the car, switching on the lights, the alleged thief ran out from the chicken house but refused to stop to the cry of halt from Mr. Stubblefied who had appeared on the scene by that time. The burglar carried a sack of chickens and a number in his hands. He was forced to drop part of them, but escaped with ten which are valued at over five dollars.

However, in his haste he did not stop to take his car but made his way on foot. Mr. Stubblefield located the car parked near by and notified the sheriff. The car was found to belong to Jake Vohland, who was found home in bed. Vohland was placed under arrest and charged with the theft, but he protests he knows nothing of the burglary, stating that his car must have been stolen for the purpose of making the raid on the chicken house.

A big thank you to the Nebraska State Historical Society for the mug shot used for this project and Newspapers.com for the newspaper article.